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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28598406">The Corner of Cherry Street</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaintyDuck_99/pseuds/DaintyDuck_99'>DaintyDuck_99</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alex Mercer Has Anxiety (Julie and the Phantoms), Bisexual Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Character Study, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Friendship/Love, Gay Alex Mercer (Julie and The Phantoms), Gen, POV Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Pansexual Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Pre-Season/Series 01, Reggie Peters Has ADHD (Julie and The Phantoms), Reggie Peters-centric (Julie and The Phantoms)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:28:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,085</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28598406</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaintyDuck_99/pseuds/DaintyDuck_99</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“You are like the lights of Cali, dude, but not as a waste of time, or a distraction, or whatever. You inspire people. You’re…” Luke trails off, glancing upward intensely like he does when he’s writing a new song. </p><p>“Incandescent?” Reggie offers feebly, trying to be a bit more positive, mostly joking, showing off the vocabulary he normally keeps stored away. </p><p>"Bright," Luke amends.</p><p>Reggie is feeling down, so he goes to his favorite place. Luke and Alex turn up to help make him feel better.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alex Mercer &amp; Luke Patterson &amp; Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>110</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Corner of Cherry Street</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The rickety wooden pier serves as Reggie’s bedroom more often than not, these nights. Waves lap at the support beams in irregular intervals, but they are no more likely to rise up and smother him than the knock-down drag-outs between his parents. </p><p>Lately, he is the door and they are both vying to be Rose, using him as a means to escape from a castraphope of their own creation while he and the other sinks. He doesn’t even get to have sentience, have a voice. The roar of the actual ocean is infinitely more welcome.</p><p>He’d dragged the guys—even Bobby—to see the film by claiming it would get them all out of the house, and that it might even get them dates, but those things were only partially true. Bobby was the only one who’d bothered to bring a date, so he hadn’t sat with them. </p><p>Reggie had been entranced by the film, and it was a good thing he hadn’t brought a girl, because his heart was wrung out on his cheeks for anyone to see. In the darkness of the theater, flanked by Luke and Alex, only they’d noticed, and only they’d accepted it.</p><p>As they had gripped his hands with the strength of anchors, he’d floated back to reality. Without them, he’d have surely flung himself to his feet, still raw, screaming and crying and raving like a madman, drunk off of movie magic and caring too much about fictional characters. </p><p><em> You care too much </em> was a common accusation, first flung at Reggie by his sneering father as he cried in his mother’s arms when Snuffles had died. Eleven years later and he’s still letting them drag his heart through the sand every time he comes home, so maybe good old dad was right. </p><p>Reggie tries to pour his excess into Sunset Curve, into the country songs he writes and the cheesy films and books he devours. He’d put some of it into an original book if he could sit still long enough. Sometimes it works, and sometimes he wants to let the ocean swallow him whole.</p><p>A sigh escapes through his lips and gets lost somewhere among the stars. They’re dim from California’s excess, the dazzling light that hypnotizes dreamers as it blots out the skies. </p><p>“That’s Ursa Major that you’re sighing at,” a bemused voice calls out from his left. </p><p>“Rad,” responds another voice on his right. Reggie smiles despite himself. </p><p>Alex and Luke plop down on either side, ignoring the groans of the aggravated old pier. They’re close enough to touch, grazing arms, and warmth seeps back into Reggie’s bones. </p><p>“How did you know?” Reggie keeps his eyes on the constellation Alex had pointed out, trying to see it, although it would help if he knew what it was (and if there was less artificial light). </p><p>“Where to find you? That you were down?” </p><p>“Where Ursa Major is? It’s a bear, by the way.” </p><p>“Yeah, more words would be good, dude. We know you got ‘em.” Luke pokes Reggie’s shoulder.</p><p>Reggie chuckles, elbowing Luke in retaliation. The bear tries to swirl to life above them. </p><p>“The first two, I guess. We’re all aware of Alex’s obsession with mythology and constellations.”</p><p>“You’re welcome,” Alex responds, recognizing that the statement isn’t a real dig. </p><p>“Anyway man, you showed us this place, so it made sense that you’d be here if you weren’t home. And if you weren’t bummed,” Luke shifts to look at Reggie, leaning back on his elbows, “you’d be dancing barefoot in the sand.” </p><p>A current of fondness washes from Luke’s eyes and the upward curve of his mouth, breaking over Reggie, who rolls to bury his face in the crook of Alex’s neck, overwhelmed. To be known so well is to be cared about, to be loved, and no one knows him better than these two. </p><p>“I would,” Reggie admits, muffled by Alex’s hood. </p><p>Alex combs his fingers through Reggie’s hair, carefully detangling any snags. </p><p>“Do you wanna tell us what’s wrong?” </p><p>He tells them what he’s been thinking. Gradually, he raises his head to see the stars again. </p><p>“Wait, wait.” Luke frowns. “You’re out here calling yourself and the lights of Cali...a waste?” </p><p>“My metaphor was good?” Reggie tries. Luke and Alex both glare down at him, and Luke shakes his head. </p><p>“You <em> are </em>like the lights of Cali, dude, but not as a waste of time, or a distraction, or whatever. You inspire people. You’re…” Luke trails off, glancing upward intensely like he does when he’s writing a new song. </p><p>“Incandescent?” Reggie offers feebly, trying to be a bit more positive, mostly joking, showing off the vocabulary he normally keeps stored away. </p><p>“Sounds about right,” Alex chimes in. </p><p>He coaxes an arm under Reggie, lulls him into a sitting position with him and Luke. </p><p>“Bright,” Luke amends, substituting his own word, “That’s how we understand you, bro.”</p><p>Reggie snakes his arms around them, content with how full his heart is, not spilling over and scalding him any longer. </p><p>“We’re bright together,” he states, not caring that his eyes are wet. Breaking the hug, he turns to Luke. “You can steal that, if you want,” he teases. </p><p>Luke rolls his eyes. “It’s not stealing, you nerd, we’re one band.”</p><p>“Alright,” Alex intervenes, getting between Luke and Reggie before they can wrestle off of the pier, “but I just wanted to add, you’re only too much to the wrong people. Everyone’s a little weird, and if someone dismisses you, that’s a waste of your time, not the other way around.” </p><p>“I—” Reggie flounders to respond, unused to how startlingly sincere his best friends are being outside of practice and unable to deflect. “Thank you,” he eventually settles on.  </p><p>“I hope you know that’s true of you, too. Both of you,” Reggie adds. </p><p>Alex places a hand on each of theirs. </p><p>“You guys taught me that,” he admits softly, “and you bring out the best in me.”</p><p>Reggie supposes that’s true, given how they’ve never treated Alex differently, and he normally seems more at ease, less nervous, around him and Luke. </p><p>In fact, he rarely thinks about Alex’s sexuality, as there’s so much more to him than that. At most, it might’ve made Reggie question his own a little bit, which—he hasn’t had time to unpack that, yet. </p><p>For now, he is happy to urge his friends back onto the beach and into the edge of the surf, tugging off his shoes as he goes.  <br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This work and the title are inspired by Yellowcard's <a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/23oxJmDc1V9uLUSmN2LIvx?si=jFRxwZz4QpWshjKIV6umNA">Ocean Avenue</a>.</p><p>I'd be happy to hear what you all think! :)</p><p>If you like my writing, I recently wrote <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28744575">The One That Makes Me Feel Right</a>, which is a Luke/Reggie fic that runs with the idea that Reggie loses a random article of clothing sometimes when he poofs.</p><p>You can find me on tumblr <a href="https://www.tumblr.com/blog/daintyduck99">@daintyduck99!</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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